The Fence by Fleur Murphy

A woman with long dark hair stands under a clothes line where linens and clothes are drying. She stares intently towards her right. There is a beige yard fence behind her.

Presented by Darebin Arts Speakeasy

In the quiet streets of an ordinary suburb, the fence between two neighbouring houses comes down. Where once there was a clear separation between you and the couple next door, now there’s only a dirt line and human decency keeping prying eyes out of each other’s backyards.

Except you’ve noticed they have a new baby and that she keeps locking herself out. And then there are the sounds late at night that have become impossible not to hear. Should you say something, do something? But is it what you think it is? And is it really your place to get involved?

Shortlisted for the 2022 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award, The Fence is a scintillating solo work about privacy, bravery, and testimony by acclaimed playwright Fleur Murphy (Nothing, Hearth). Performed by Louisa Mignone (Anna K, Wentworth, The Twelve), this gripping new play will lead you through the streets we know, shining a light on the violence found in our own backyards.

 

Reviews

'The Fence is a compelling production about the decisions we are forced to face when our sanctuary and safety of home is challenged by outside influences, and the moral dilemma in minding your own business or stepping in and saying something.' - My Melbourne Arts

 

'Louisa Mignone’s performance is startling in its honesty; warmly humorous at times and compellingly intense in others.' - Theatre First

 

'Fleur Murphy unflinchingly examines the threads of violence in our society with delicacy, insight and humour.' - Stage Whispers

Content Warnings

This production contains references to and descriptions of domestic violence.

 

Creative Team

Written by: Fleur Murphy 
Directed by: Alice Darling 
Performed by: Louisa Mignone 
Understudy: Veronica Thomas 
Set & Costume Design: Karine Larché 
Sound Design: Sidney Millar
Lighting Design: Clare Springett 
Assistant Director: Fiona Scott-Norman 
Production Manager/Stage Manager: Naavikaran 
Production Intern: Molly England 
Family Violence & Abuse Consultant: Sheridon Byrne 
Producer: Fiona Stafford 
Creative Producer: Tom Royce-Hampton 
Image by: Gregory Lorenzutti

 

Artist Bios

Louisa Mignone (Performer) - (she/her) is a graduate of the Flinders Drama Centre, Louisa has worked on stage for Bell Shakespeare Company, Belvoir St Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, Sport for Jove, State Theatre Company of SA, Tamarama Rock Surfers, and Windmill Theatre. She is especially proud of her own theatre company isthisyours?, established upon graduation from Flinders with the five women in her year. They have created and performed six original and completely devised works that have toured nationally and picked up numerous awards.Louisa’s film and television highlights include; The Twelve, Scrublands, Australian GangsterMs Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries (1,2), Wentworth (8,9), Halifax Retribution, Secret City: Under the Eagle, Rake (2,3,4), How to Stay Married (2), Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Fat Tony & Co, My Place, East West 101, Danger 5, Infini, Two Fists One Heart, and Latte e Miele, which she created and which was official selection for Sydney Flickerfest, also appearing on ABC iView’s Best of Flickerfest series.

Veronica Thomas (Understudy) - (she/her) has been a local and avid performer, accomplished dancer and cellist since childhood. Following studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, she toured shows at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. She has performed at the Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, La Mama, Theatre Works and fortyfivedownstairs amongst others. Some of her recent credits include Neighbours, Bruce, Sexy Herpes, The Dr Blake Murder Mysteries, Shantaram, How to Talk Australian, Five Bedrooms, Ride Like a Girl and Low (Victorian Theatre Company).

Fleur Murphy (Playwright) - (she/her) is originally from country Victoria and based in Melbourne/Naarm. Fleur has a B.A. in Theatre Performance - Acting from the University of Ballarat, Arts Academy (2004) and holds a Masters in Writing for Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts (2019). In 2020 she was a recipient of Career Development funding from the Australia Council to support an 18-month mentorship with award-winning playwright Tom Holloway, and has also interned on Melbourne Theatre Company’s Cybec Electric readings. She was a 2022 Theatre Works Associate Artist.

Her short film, Rain for Morgan won multiple awards around the world including “Best International Short” (Ireland International Film Festival 2010). Her plays include: Shadows of Angels (Adelaide Fringe/Shepparton Arts Festival/TBC Theatre), My Country for a Peach (Vessel & Arts Centre Melbourne), and an adaptation of Janne Teller’s award-winning novel Nothing (fortyfivedownstairs). Recently, HEARTH (La Mama & Victorian Tour), was selected for the 2022 VCAA Playlist, longlisted for the Theatre503 Award in London, and shortlisted for the 2021 Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award. Her one-act play Don’t Say (Bubba) was shortlisted top 10 for the 2023 Lysicrates Prize.

Alice Darling (Director) - (she/her) is a Melbourne/Naarm based Theatre Director who is passionate about new Australian writing and collaborative practice. Alice is currently working on the new Australian play The Exact Dimensions of Hell by Bridget Mackey. Alice holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts (hons) from Flinders University, a Post Graduate Diploma in Performance Creation – Directing from VCA, and was the inaugural graduate director at Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre. Her directing credits include: Top Acts 2022 (VCAA), RUST by Vaughn Rae (TBC Theatre 2020), Thigh Gap by Jamaica Zuanetti (La Mama 2019), FIERCE by Jane Thompson (Theatre Works 2018), The Chapel Perilous by Dorothy Hewett (Federation University 2018), Catherine: the body politic by Caroline Lee (La Mama 2016, 2017), Undercoat: a parafoxical tale by Cynthia Troup (La Mama 2017), True West by Sam Shepard (Matchstick Theatre 2016), Middletown by Will Eno (Red Stitch 2015), Kindness by Bridget Mackey (Theatre Works 2015).

Karine Larché (Set & Costume Design) - (she/her) is a set and costume designer based in Melbourne. Recent credits include costume design for Underneath Ms Archer (2023) directed by Peter Houghton, set & costume design and audio visual design for the 2022 Suitcase Series production Atlantis (Malthouse Theatre), design for Laurinda (Melbourne Theatre Company, 2022) directed by Petra Kalive, short film Gugu naGogo (ABC/ Screen Australia, 2022) directed by Taku Mbuzi, Nothing (fortyfivedownstairs, 2022) directed by Alonso Pineda, And She Would Stand Like This (Antipodes Theatre at Meat Market, 2022), directed by Margot Tanjutco, Pool (No Water) (VCA – University of Melbourne, 2021), and Project F (Abbotsford Convent, 2021) choreographed by Prue Lang. Previously, Karine has worked as a costumier for a decade in France and in Australia, mainly at The Australian Ballet. Karine has recently graduated with a Master of Design for Performance at VCA where she was awarded the Portland House Outreach Program Scholarship, the Trina Parker Scholarship and the Jim Marks Postgraduate Scholarship. Karine was the 2021-2022 Set & Costume Design recipient of the Besen Family Artist Program at Malthouse Theatre.

Sidney Millar (Sound Design) - (she/her) is a Melbourne based sound designer and composer. Originally from Adelaide, she moved in 2015 to study at the Victorian College of the Arts (Fine Arts – Production), and has since designed for theatre, dance, film and installations. Her unique style has emerged from her extensive experience as a performer and composer of classical and jazz music. She particularly enjoys using sound and music to create emotional states and subtle tensions in a work. Sidney’s prior sound designs include Wild (Melbourne Theatre Company); Girls & Boys (Melbourne Theatre Company); LOTUS (MICF); Lousical the Musical (MICF); and Three Blind Mice (Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe). She was the composer and musician for Mother Courage and her Children (Victorian College of the Arts Acting Company 2017). Sidney’s other interests include lighting, visual art, stage and production management. In 2016 she was nominated for the Union House Theatre Stage Management Award for the musical Rent. In 2018 participated in Melbourne Theatre Company’s Women in Theatre program.

Clare Springett (Lighting Design) - (she/her) is a Melbourne based Lighting Designer and Theatre Maker. She was the resident lighting designer for Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre from 2013 to 2020. In 2014, she was nominated for a Green Room Award for lighting design on Eurydice (Red Stitch) and again in 2022 for Mara Korper (Citizen Theatre). She was chosen for the 2016 Besen Family Artist Placement at Malthouse Theatre. Clare was selected to particpate in the 2018 Women in Theatre program at Melbourne Theatre Company, and in 2019 was the Associate Lighting Designer working with Matt Scott on Shakespeare in Love. Other lighting design credits include: CUT- dir. Laurence Strangio, WAY - dir. Sean Mee, The Six Guys - dir. Beng Oh, Traps – dir. Laurence Strangio, Variations or Exit Music – dir. Justin Nott, Hearth – dir. Thomas Royce-Hampton, Mara Korper -dir. Jayde Kirchert, When the Rain Stops Falling - dir. Briony Dunn, Everyone is Famous w/ Riot Stage - dir. Katrina Cornwall, Burn This– dir. Iain Sinclair, My Wife Peggy – dir. Gavin Roach, Shakespeare In Love – Lighting Associate w/ Matt Scott (Melbourne Theatre Company), My Wife Peggy (Melbourne Season) – dir. Gavin Roach, Gloria – Lighting Assistant w/ Paul Jackson – dir. Lee Lewis (Melbourne Theatre Company), True West – dir. Alice Darling.

Fiona Scott-Norman (Asst. Director) - (she/her) is a Melbourne/Naarm based performance maker, director, dramaturg and writer currently undertaking a Masters in Theatre Directing at the Victorian College of the Arts. She is currently exploring the role of collaboration, inclusion and community arts practices in theatre making. Fiona is also dramaturg on Die Roten Punkte’s touring production Otto and Astrid’s Joint Solo Project, and writing mentor for Sophie Smyth’s upcoming autobiographical musical about autism. Her recent directing credits include Ovariacting: a Period Drama with Jamie Boiskin, Women of the White House with Ebony Lee McGeady and Sam Coats, and The Aspie Hour with Sophie Smyth and Ryan Smedley, which won a 2019 Green Room Award for best writing. She was dramaturg for Andi Snelling’s award-winning physical theatre show Happy-Go-Wrong, artistic director of the Ballarat Cabaret Festival in 2017, has directed some 150 cabaret shows, and toured internationally with her own solo works The Needle and the Damage Done, and Disco: The Vinyl Solution.

Naavikaran (Production & Stage Manager) - (she/they) is a club & theatre producer, DJ and musician from India, based in Naarm (Melbourne). Her work creates and supports magic, narrative, community whilst building platforms for accessible and anti-racist storytelling for identities of marginalized intersections. Naavikaran’s debut album, Brown Church is available on all streaming platforms

Molly England (Production Intern) - (she/her) is an actor and theatremaker based on Wathawurung Land in Geelong. She has studied with NIDA and the National Theatre Melbourne. She was an assistant writer and intern on the development of ROARING, an immersive production with Fleur Murphy. Some of Molly’s credits include Blackrock (Platform Arts) and My Brilliant Career (La Mama), for which she was awarded a Victorian Drama League Award. 

Fiona Stafford (Producer) - (she/her) is a freelance producer based in Melbourne and has worked in the arts and entertainment industry for over 15 years in a number of roles, from artist management to immigration, publicity and marketing, and event management. Currently, she also works as the Operations Manager at Sidney Myer Music Bowl. HEARTH (29 Scenes) was her debut independent theatre production, giving her the opportunity to expand her skills and pursue her passion for supporting emerging independent theatre-makers in developing, staging and touring new Australian works.

Tom Royce-Hampton (Creative Producer) - (he/him) is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts School of Music, Actors Centre Australia, and most recently of the Victorian College of the Art’s 2020 Master of Theatre (Directing), Tom began his career as a member of Taikoz, Australia’s leading taiko ensemble, performing with artists and companies as diverse as John Bell and the Bell Shakespeare Company, Lingalayam Dance Company, and Kodo, as well as concerto performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Western Australia Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and Dresden Sinfonika.

 

 

 

 

About 29 Scenes

29 Scenes is an emerging, independent theatre company founded by Fleur Murphy, Fiona Stafford, and Tom Royce-Hampton with a mission to develop, present, and tour contemporary work by exciting new Australian playwrights. In 2022, 29 Scenes launched onto the Melbourne independent theatre scene with their acclaimed first production; Hearth. In addition to stellar audience engagement, Hearth was selected for the 2022 Theatre Studies Playlist and was seen by over 20 schools across its two-week season at La Mama Courthouse and self-produced two-week metro/regional tour. Building on this success, 29 Scenes’ 2023 offering The Fence is the company’s second world premiere and first collaboration with Darebin Arts Speakeasy.

By offering nimble, tour-ready productions, 29 Scenes seeks to engage with audiences in both metro and regional centres, and with comprehensive educational offerings, foster a generation of new theatre-loving audiences. 

 


This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. The initial research and script development of The Fence has been proudly supported by Merri-bek City Council through the 2020 Flourish: Arts Recovery Grant program.  Further script development and workshopping is proudly supported by Creative Victoria's Sustaining Creative Workers Grant 2022. 

Black and white text of the Australia Council of the Arts logo   Merri-Bek Logo in black text  Creative Victoria logo  Auspicious Arts Project logo in black text   29 Scenes logo in black text

When

  • Wednesday, 09 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Thursday, 10 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Friday, 11 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Saturday, 12 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Sunday, 13 August 2023 | 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
  • Wednesday, 16 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Thursday, 17 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Friday, 18 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Saturday, 19 August 2023 | 07:30 PM - 08:30 PM
  • Sunday, 20 August 2023 | 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Location

Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High St, Northcote, 3070, View Map

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